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N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, J u n e 17, 2025
Benson buys another N.O. office tower
27-story building on Poydras St. across from Superdome
$2.00X
Supreme Court to hear wetlands cases Move could impact similar lawsuits seeking billions
BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Gayle Benson and her real estate firm are purchasing 1515 Poydras St., the building next to the Superdome in the photo above. BY ANTHONY MCAULEY
Staff writer
Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson said Monday she has agreed to buy one of the largest office towers in the Central Business District, in a move she said reflects confidence in the developing New Orleans medical district. In a statement, Benson said she is under contract to buy 1515 Poydras St., a 27-story tower across the street from Caesars Superdome and the Benson Tower and annex, both of which she already owns. The sale from current owner — FCA Partners, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based real estate investment firm — is expected to be closed by mid-July, when the management of the building will transfer to Benson’s real estate management firm, Corporate Realty, the statement said. Benson bought Corporate Realty in late 2021, saying at the time that she aimed to expand her real estate holdings throughout the Gulf region. She has since made investments in
“There is no specific plan in place right now. But this is our neighborhood, and it is an opportunity to make something good happen.” MICHAEL SIEGEL, president of Corporate Realty residential real estate in Atlanta and Dallas, as well as buying an office block from the estate of former car dealer Ray Brandt. She has also taken advantage of an ailing national office market to take over management of two office towers formerly run by Hertz Investment Group: the Energy Centre in New Orleans and the Pinnacle building in Jackson, Mississippi. The sale price for 1515 Poydras wasn’t immediately disclosed. FCA Partners bought the 529,000-squarefoot building in 2000 for around $30 million, according to public records. Completed in 1984 with an indoor car park of more than 400 spaces, the
building was valued by the Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office at just about $25 million in the latest tax year. FCA Partners also owns 1555 Poydras, which it bought in 2000 for just under $27 million, records show. The 1515 building has by far the lowest level of occupancy of the 15 so-called Class A downtown office buildings, with less than 23% of its space leased out, according to Corporate Realty’s 2024 office market report. FCA Partners had applied four years ago to convert the bulk of the space — about 300,000 square feet, floors 14-27 — into apartments or condominiums, keeping the lower floors for office rental. However, they made little progress on that project because of soaring inflation for construction materials and other related costs. FCA didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Michael Siegel, president of Corporate Realty, said Benson will take a fresh look at the building before
ä See BENSON, page 7A
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments from Chevron and Exxon that coastal wetlands lawsuits filed by two Louisiana parishes should be transferred to federal court — a decision that could ripple across dozens of similar cases seeking billions of dollars in damages. The oil companies say they were fulfilling federal contracts during World War II, a defense that lower courts have so far rejected. How the high court rules could affect a recent landmark $745 million jury verdict in Plaquemines Parish and shape the future of 42 similar lawsuits accusing oil companies of destroying much of Louisiana’s coastline. “Chevron is pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to grant review in these cases, and we look forward to presenting our arguments to the court,” Chevron’s counsel, Paul Clement, said in a statement. Each of the lawsuits filed in state courts accused oil companies of damaging coastal wetlands by dredging canals and leaving behind pollution after they wrapped up their operations, in violation of state coastal regulations that went into effect in 1980. The question of whether major environmental lawsuits belong in federal or state court has been “arising more and more,” and not just in Louisiana, according to Michael Gerrard, the founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at
ä See WETLANDS, page 7A
Public defender board clashes over pay, jobs BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Three members of the board that oversees Louisiana public defenders have quit amid continuing turmoil over five district chiefs losing their jobs and an ongoing dispute over pay. Freddie Pitcher Jr., Ted Hernandez and Peter Thomson have all resigned, Louisiana Public Defender Oversight Board Chair Gerard Caswell said during a board meeting Monday. The state has already found two replacements — Jeffrey Hufft joins as a gubernatorial appointee, while Senate President Cameron Henry,
ä See BOARD, page 7A
Cassidy silent on RFK Jr.’s moves to reshape vaccination committee BY MARK BALLARD
Staff writer
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is mostly keeping quiet on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent appointments to a top vaccination advisory committee, including three new members who have made a splash in conservative circles for their opposition to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and for spreading vaccine misinformation. Last week, Kennedy said he “retired” all 17 scientists on the
WEATHER HIGH 89 LOW 78 PAGE 6B
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, known as ACIP, which advises the federal government on vaccine policy. Kennedy, a longtime skeptic of vaccinations, said the Trump administration wanted members more closely aligned with the president. “A clean sweep is needed to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” he stated. All 17 members of the nonpolitical scientific committee had been appointed during the Biden administration.
As chair of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee, Cassidy, more than any other senator, is responsible for confirming Kennedy as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Several Republican senators withheld their support of Kennedy until Cassidy, a physician, weighed in. In a speech explaining his vote to confirm Kennedy, Cassidy said the nominee had promised not to encourage parents to stop vaccinating their children and work closely
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN McDONNELL
Committee Chair Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, left, greets Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before Kennedy ä See CASSIDY, page 7A testifies at a hearing on May 14.
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12TH yEAR, NO. 309